he huffed, and he puffed, and he blew the house down
by AlwaysPadfoot
Summary: Daphne knew this couldn't last forever.


**AN:** Prompts will be displayed at the bottom to avoid them potentially giving away things.

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 **he huffed, and he puffed, and he blew the house down**

 **AlwaysPadfoot**

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Daphne felt sick.

Whoever had hit her around the back of the head had done so with such force that it had knocked her out cold. As her consciousness seeped back through her, several things occurred to her. She was lying on a bed, and whoever had hit her must have known that she would have been walking alone in Hogsmeade — or they had followed her. Susan would be worried. She would have been left alone waiting for her and Daphne would have never turned up.

Taking a shallow breath, Daphne focused. She could hear movement and it seemed familiar, harrowingly so.

Slowly, she cracked an eye open, and the first thing she saw was her grandfather and older brother. Her stomach dropped.

They knew. They knew about Susan.

Daphne told herself to be calm. She had plausible deniability here; she had always been an excellent liar, especially when it came to her family, and she had no problem flaunting that ability here again.

After another deep breath, Daphne forced herself to groan and push herself up wearily. Blinking her eyes, both men turned to her — she had their attention. Now, all she had to do, was to play the pretty dumb blonde act and things might just work out.

"Urgh, Thomas? Grandfather? What happened? What is going on?"

"Don't be so naive, Daphne," her Grandfather barked, making her heart race. "Sit up and stop pretending to be oblivious."

She had to push it; they would never believe her otherwise.

"I, oblivious to what?" Daphne responded, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and moving her hand to the back of her head. "I don't understand; how on earth did I get here?"

Her grandfather and Thomas shared a look and Daphne kept her expression even, despite the fact internally she was rapidly descending into the area of freaking out. She put a hand on the back of her head, her hair matted, the attack must have drawn blood.

"Oh, Merlin, what happened? Someone attacked me," she continued, letting some panic lacing her voice.

"Stop it, Daphne, you've been caught out," Thomas began before being interrupted by their Grandfather raising a hand to stop him speaking.

Daphne felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. Her grandfather had always been able to control a room; no one would cross him; he had always been like this. He picked up a chair at the back and put it down in front of her, sitting without a word. Trying to remain unfazed, Daphne held on to the look of confusion like it was her only lifeline.

"Where were you going this afternoon?" he asked simply.

"In Hogsmeade?" Daphne confirmed, not waiting for a reply. "Tracey and I had an argument. I wasn't going anywhere in particular, just a walk to clear my head."

"Try again," Grandfather responded.

"Try again?" Daphne frowned and cocked her head slightly. "I don't underst—"

"Try. Again."

Daphne swallowed and stayed silent, not sure what to say at all.

"I haven't got all day, Daphne," her Grandfather barked, making her jump. "Do not waste my time."

"I told you," she said. "It was a walk to clear my head."

There was a moment where Daphne was sure time had stopped, and then as quick as it had stopped, it started again. Her grandfather's hand shot out, gripping her face, and pulling her towards him forcefully. She tried not to wince, or to cry out, but she could feel herself losing control.

"You have one last chance to tell me the truth, Daphne."

Gritting her teeth, Daphne inhaled deeply. "I don't know what else to say, sir."

He raised a hand and for one terrifying moment Daphne thought he might slap her. But instead, he clicked his fingers, and Thomas jumped into action like a diligent Grandson. He pulled a small vial of clear liquid from his robe pocket and passed it over, placing it in their grandfather's outstretched hand. Daphne knew immediately what it was; Potions was something she excelled in and the clear liquid screamed Veritaserum.

"If your story is indeed true," he said, flicking the bottle lid open, "then you'll take this and answer the question again."

"Don't you trust me?" Daphne asked, her voice muffled by fingers still gripping her face.

"All women are the same, Daphne," he responded. "They have the inherent ability to deceive, so no, I do not trust you."

Releasing his grip, he held the bottle out.

"I won't take it," Daphne said promptly. "You are supposed to trust me; I'm not lying. I have done nothing to prove otherwise."

What happened next Daphne would have never expected. Between her grandfather and her older brother, they pinned her down and force-fed her the potion. She choked on it and tried not to swallow, but with a hand over her mouth and nose, Daphne had no choice. The potion was tasteless as it slid down her throat and when the two let her go she coughed and spluttered, but it was too late. The potion was already in her system; she could feel herself growing fearful in anticipation of the questions they were about to ask.

Daphne forced herself to sit up; her eyes watering as her brother stepped away and her Grandfather sat back in the chair opposite her.

"I am doing this for your own good."

"If this is good for me, I don't want to know what bad even looks like," she muttered; her voice regretfully cracked as she spoke next. "That was unnecessary."

The look on her Grandfather's face he didn't believe that for even a second. Steepling his fingers, he leant towards Daphne, his expression cold.

"What were you doing this afternoon in Hogsmeade, Daphne?"

She gritted her teeth, the potion ready to betray her. "Shopping, walking, breathing."

All were true.

"Okay, I can be more specific," he said, spreading his hands wide. "Where were you going when you were attacked in Hogsmeade today?"

"I was going to the park area in the east corner of Hogsmeade."

"To meet who?"

"Susan," Daphne said, her voice a whisper and her eyes threatening tears.

"Susan Bones, correct?" Daphne nodded and her grandfather continued. "Is she your friend?"

"No."

Another whisper.

"Then what is her relation to you, Daphne?"

Her lip trembled as she willed herself not to answer; not to reveal anything about Susan to her Grandfather. He repeated his question, louder this time, making Daphne flinch.

"S-she's my girlfriend."

Daphne's voice was barely audible, but she knew that he'd heard because he sat up, his body stiff. Thomas' eyes had gone wide and he was staring at Daphne. She forced herself not to meet either of their eyes. Her hands were shaking so hard that she was sure it was visible. All she'd wanted was to get to the end of Hogwarts without her Grandfather finding out. Now she wasn't sure what would happen, what he would do to rectify what he considered a problem.

"How long?"

"Six months," Daphne whispered.

Her Grandfather stood up so abruptly his chair scraped loudly against the wooden floor. He took three strides over to Thomas and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Leave."

Thomas didn't argue. He left without a word like a dutiful grandson, closing the door firmly behind him. For a long moment, Daphne felt as though time in the room had stopped dead. Her Grandfather didn't move and every second of silence made her prepare a little bit more for the imminent explosion. Swallowing thickly, this was the most helpless she had ever felt.

Finally, her Grandfather turned and demanded she met his eyes.

She looked up at him. Even through blurry vision, she knew he was more furious than she had ever seen him before.

"It ends. It ends now."

Daphne choked back a sob. "Sir, I—"

"Let me make it perfectly clear," he interrupted, his voice low as he approached her again. "It ends, otherwise you will leave Hogwarts, and you will never go back."

He wasn't one to make idle threats. Daphne knew that he meant every single word that came out of his mouth. Her bottom lip trembled. She couldn't even think how she would break this news, how she could cope without the girl who had fast become an important part of her life. It felt as though the room was spinning around her. All of a sudden, her grandfather's hand raised in her peripherals and came down sharply against her cheek.

"Young lady, do you understand what I'm saying to you?"

"Y-yes, sir."

"What are you to do?"

"End it. End my relationship with Susan otherwise I have to leave Hogwarts," Daphne said, gulping back uncontrollable sobs.

The look of disgust on her grandfather's face made her stomach turn. He was staring at her with such hatred, Daphne was sure that nothing she could do would erase the memory of the expression on his face. She dragged her sleeve across her face. Her cheek was throbbing.

"Get out of my sight," he sneered.

Daphne didn't wait around to ask where they were or what she should do next. She just scrambled to her feet and left the room before anything else could happen. Not stopping until she was outside of the building, she realised she was in The Demiguise Inn, a bed and breakfast on the edge of Hogsmeade. Daphne stumbled into a knee-high snowdrift, falling to her hands and knees. After unceremoniously throwing up onto a blanket of white, Daphne shakily pushed herself to her feet.

It was already so dark that she had missed the Hogsmeade curfew. Once she got back to the castle, Professor Snape was going to kill her. She would probably lose fifty points and be in detention until their exams in the summer.

Fumbling for her wand, Daphne cast a cleaning spell on herself and cleared a path for herself by melting the snow in front of her. How she was even thinking straight enough to cast right now was beyond her comprehension. That being said, Daphne was suddenly very aware she had appearances to uphold once she returned to the castle. She had to clear her head and the brisk cold was helping. Even though her skin had broken out in goosebumps, Daphne held her wand out to illuminate the path back to Hogwarts.

The walk felt like it took far longer than usual. Dragging her feet through the snow probably didn't help make it any quicker.

Daphne ran through every possible way to talk to Susan without her grandfather finding out. How he'd found out in the first place was a terrifying train of thought. Did she go to Susan personally? How did she make it look like they weren't together? She used to be so good at shutting people out, so good at shutting her feelings out, and now it was all bubbling so close to the surface that a single thing would overwhelm her in an instant.

Susan would never understand. After losing her aunt, after watching her best friend go home only a few months into their sixth year, Daphne couldn't think of a single good way to break up.

Was there ever a good way to break up?

As expected, upon reached the main entrance of Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall was stood her arms folded. Daphne let herself be read the riot act, not even bothering to defend herself. With Slytherin down fifty points and three weeks of detention starting Monday, all Daphne wanted to was get into bed and pull the covers over her head. She just wanted everything to go away — for today not to have happened. The big problem, however, was that it had happened. Her grandfather had found out; she was going to have to break up with the girl she loved; she was going to have to live the remainder of her life knowing she'd broken Susan's heart and lost her forever.

Daphne let her feet carry her to the Slytherin Common Room automatically. She couldn't face dinner; she couldn't face Susan, or Tracey, or anyone.

Upon reaching her room, Daphne locked the door and curled up under her sheets fully clothed. This was it — the absolute worst day of her life. Or maybe, maybe that would be tomorrow when she ended her relationship with Susan.

A sob broke free of her throat and she buried her face in her pillow.

It would have to end. For Daphne, _everything_ was about to end.

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 **Comp/Challenge & Prompts: **

**Assignment 11. Notable Witches and Wizards, Task Four:** Write about someone being so opposed to something that they hurt or kill a member of their family.

 **Insane House Challenge** : 580. Plot Point — A secret comes out

 **365 House Challenge** : 218. Potion - Veritaserum

 **72hr:** Dialogue — "I am doing this for your own good." / "If this is good for me, I don't want to know what bad even looks like."

 **Word Count** **:** 2091 — not inc. notes, titles, or ANs.


End file.
